Ireland day 1369. Saturday 28 June 2025- Jeanie Johnston

Today’s summary	Went into Dublin to visit the Jeanie Johnston famine rescue ship. Very interesting. Spotted Simon Harris (Tánaiste) in a “Pride” rally afterwards. Slightly disappointing lunch in Mark’s & Spencer Grafton Street then walked to Abbey Street and caught an H2 bus back to Malahide. Snacks and TV in the evening, as per usual, but with the sound track of Justin Timberlake playing at the castle in the background.
Today’s weather	Heavily overcast with occasional drizzle. Moderate to strong westerly wind. Appx 21c

Today’s overview location (The green mark shows the location of our route)		Close-up location (The blue line shows where we walked) (Click button below to download GPX of today’s walk as recorded, or see interactive map at bottom with elevations corrected): Jeanie Johnston

Commentary

We have been living in Ireland for coming up to four years now and during that time, we have visited most of the “sights” of Dublin. There was however one glaring omission, in the form of “Jeanie Johnston”

“Jeanie Johnston” is a ship, not a person, and she is moored on the north bank of the Liffey, just outside the Epic centre. I should add that the ship we see today isn’t the original vessel, which sank in the mid-Atlantic in the early 1850s. This (exact) reproduction was actually launched in 2002. Also, before anyone asks, there was never anyone called Jeanie Johnston. It’s thought to be a made up name based on characters in some of Robert Burns’ poems (the original ship was built in Scotland).

At the time of the Famine, in the early 1840s, a lot of transatlantic cargo ship operators took the opportunity to cash in on the number of famine stricken refugees seeking to escape Ireland, by transporting them one way to the US or Canada, then sailing back with a ship laden with North American timber.

This vessel’s claim to fame was that it ran a more humane operation than many of the others. Of the 3200 or so emigres it transported over 16 voyages to Canada and the US, none ever died. In contrast to the other ships, where death rates of up to 30% were common.

Our tour today took about an hour and although the guide was clearly no fan of the British, she did a very good job of explaining everything quickly, clearly and concisely.

After having a good look round, we crossed back to the south bank and made our way to Marks and Spencer on Grafton Street for lunch. En route, we passed through a huge “Pride” rally and I for one was quite impressed to see the Tánaiste (deputy prime minister) Simon Harris taking a place alongside the Fine Gael marchers.

Lunch though was a bit of a disappointing affair. Although M&S has a prime location on Grafton Street, they really fail to make the most of it. The glorious rooftop terrace was closed, and full of litter. The tables were dirty and the serving staff vacuous. The food was OK but not anything to write home about. Come on M&S – you are an ambassador for the UK and you’re not pulling your weight.

After lunch we ambled back north over the river to Abbey Street where an H2 bus conveniently pulled in just as we were passing the stop. So we jumped in, grabbed the front seats upstairs, and cruised sedately back to Malahide.

You can probably guess how we spent the evening because it was more or less exactly the same as every other night recently. In other words: snacks (fruit, nuts and tea-loaf), TV (Mad Men), a glass of wine (Malbec) and an external musical accompaniment from the castle (Justin Timberlake). Plus, tonight, we had a very enjoyable video call with family in Canada.

So another nice easy, but thought-provoking, day today. And yet another “must see” sight ticked off our list.

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


The Custom House – all the nearby streets were cordoned off in anticipation of the up-coming parade	Marker for the the National Famine Way, which runs alongside the Royal Canal from Strokestown and finishes at the “Jean Jeanie”

All aboard! In a much happier place today than it was in 1845	Below decks. 200 passengers (and 17 crew) were crammed into this tiny deck (and on some other ships, the number was increased to 300 – incredibly insanitary)

Val contemplating the past from the bow	This band was strumming away enthusiastically in Grafton Street – they were actually quite good and sounded a lot like “Mumford and Son” (who, coincidentally are playing at Malahide next Friday)

Tánaiste Simon Harris not missing a photo-opportunity on the “Pride” march today